In all depictions of Buddha’s life, trees play a significant role. In Theravada Buddhism, they are not just a part of nature, but symbolically linked to the stages of the “Awakened One’s” destiny. Some of these trees were considered sacred in Hinduism before Buddha’s arrival, while others became sacred because of Buddha. This also reveals traces of very ancient folk beliefs that were alive during his time, according to which nature spirits resided in trees, and people would offer them gifts.
Birth in the blooming ashoka forest
According to legend, King Shudhodana Gautama, king of one of the Indian provinces, and Queen Maya had been childless for twenty years. One night, the queen had a strange dream in which a white elephant announced to her that she would conceive and give birth to a son.
When the time for her delivery approached, Queen Maya, according to tradition, set out for her parents’ home to give birth there. However, feeling the first contractions, she dared not continue the journey and stopped in a forest of blooming ashoka trees. And so, Buddha was born. He came into this world beneath a blooming Asoka tree. The legends say that he started walking immediately, and as he walked, lotus flowers bloomed beneath his feet.
The king named his son Siddhartha, which means “fulfilled every desire”. A few days after his birth, Queen Maya passed away.
Asoka (Saraca asoca in Latin) is a tropical tree native to northern India. It has a pyramidal shape and dense foliage, reaching a height of about ten meters. The leaves are feathery and dark green, while the flowers appear in abundant, highly fragrant clusters of orange-yellow.
Asoka is considered a sacred tree in Hinduism and Buddhism, and its name means “without sorrow”. It is believed to alleviate suffering and sadness. The bark of the tree has been used in Indian medicine for centuries to heal various illnesses.
The Era of Meditation beneath the Jambu Tree
Prince Siddhartha lived for 29 years in the protected environment of his father’s palace. The turning point in his comfortable life was marked His first encounters with suffering were: illness, old age, and death.
After that, according to the story, he met a holy man who had withdrawn from the world in search of truth. This encounter prompted him to leave his family and renounce all the comforts of the royal court.
For the next six years, Siddhartha Gautama sought to achieve inner peace and discover the meaning of existence, unsuccessfully seeking answers from Hindu teachers and gurus.
When he was brought to the brink of death due to self-mortification, he accepted a bowl of food offered to him by a young peasant named Sujata. The five ascetics who had lived with him for six years abandoned him, believing that he had surrendered and given up on the search for truth. The prince was left alone, but he did not give up. Instead, he decided to find a different path. While meditating under a jambu tree, he realized that a life of extreme renunciation does not lead to the goal, just as the comfortable life he had led as a prince did not. After that, avoiding extremes, he turned to the Middle Way.
Jambu (Rose apple, Latin Syzygium j The jambu tree grows in the regions of India and Malaysia, it requires a warm and humid climate. Its leaves grow opposite each other, elongated and pointed. It blooms in clusters of three to five flowers, delicate cream or white-green in color, and its numerous long stamens resemble fireworks. The fruits are edible, fragrant, and sweet. It is both an ornamental and fruit tree. Interestingly, the ancient Sanskrit name for present-day India was Džambudvipa, meaning the land or homeland of the jambu (dvipa – land, homeland).
Enlightenment under the pipal tree
After a long meditation in the jambu forest, Buddha ritually bathed and decided to sit in meditation under the pipal tree, vowing not to rise until he attained enlightenment. Resisting numerous temptations, the prince continued his meditation. In the Bhumisparshamudra position (“taking the Earth as a witness”) – the left hand in a meditation pose, the right hand on the knee, but with the fingers touching the ground – Buddha withstood attacks from demons. He remained steadfast in meditation throughout. About four weeks (according to some, seven weeks) until he found the path to Enlightenment. He became Buddha. This happened under a peepal tree in Bodhgaya, in the present-day state of Bihar, India.
Next to this peepal tree, a temple was built, Bodhimanda Vihara, which later became the Mahabodhi Temple. Soon pilgrims started coming from all directions and often took branches and seeds with them, so today there is a large “offspring” of the tree all over the world.
In accordance with one of Buddha’s prophecies, in 288 BC, a branch detached itself from the tree, and it was ceremoniously taken to Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) by King Ashoka’s daughter, where it was planted.
It is still a custom today to plant a peepal tree next to every newly built Buddhist monastery, as a symbol of Buddha and his teachings.
Peepal (Latin: Ficus religiosa), the Indian sacred fig or bodhi tree, is often referred to as the tree of enlightenment (bodhi meaning “revelation,” “awakening” in Sanskrit). The tree looks truly magnificent and can live for up to 3,000 years. Rising up to 30 meters, it possesses a rich umbrella-shaped crown. The leaves are broad and regenerate during March and April. Red flowers appear in February, followed by fruits. The tree and the refined texture of its leaves are common motifs in Indian art, while the painting of dried leaves is a unique art form with a long tradition in India.
A Miracle beneath the Mango Tree
Buddha was not inclined to display his supernatural powers. However, in order to convince King Pasenadi of the value of his teachings, he decided to perform a miracle. When the king’s subjects felled a huge mango tree, he immediately created another one of the same size from the seed brought to him by his attendants. The mango tree is also mentioned in connection with the great “double miracle” of Shravasti, where Buddha caused flames to shoot out from his shoulders and streams of water to spring from his feet. It is often mentioned in Buddhist scriptures that Buddha taught under a mango tree.
The mango tree (lat. Magnifera indica) is a large tree with evergreen leaves, which reaches a height of 30 meters. t can grow up to 40 meters in height. The diameter of the crown can be up to 10 meters. Mango and date palm are considered to be the oldest cultivated fruit trees. Its leaves are elongated and pointed, and release a scent of turpentine when touched. Small, pink-white flowers are grouped in clusters.
After flowering, it takes three to four months for the juicy, fleshy fruits to ripen. The large pit contains only one, fairly large seed (4-7 cm in length, 1 cm in thickness).
Death under the sala flowers
According to legend, Buddha predicted his physical death and went with his disciples to the sala forest near Kushinagar, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, where he spoke to them for the last time. When the moment of his physical death came during meditation, when he entered paranirvana, red sala flowers covered him. Since sala trees do not actually bloom at that time of year, this is an exceptional event, which is why these flowers are also an object of worship in Buddhism.
Sal or Sal tree (Latin: Shorea robusta) is a large tree native to South Asia. In India, it extends between the provinces of Assam, Bengal, and Jharkhand in the west to Yamuna in the east. In these regions, it is the most common tree in the forests. It grows slowly but can reach a height of 30-35 meters. As the wood is resinous and strong, it is widely used for roofs and construction work in India.
In moister areas, the tree remains leafy throughout the year, while in drier areas, it sheds most of its leaves from February to April, which regrow by early May. The resin is used as incense during Hindu ceremonies.